BYD Gains on Speculation China to Unveil Measures, Analyst Says

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- BYD Co., the Chinese electric
carmaker partly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
Inc., climbed to an eight-month high in Shenzhen trading on
speculation the government is close to unveiling plans to boost
demand for new energy vehicles, an analyst said.

“There’s been a rumor in the market today that the
government’s new-energy car plan will come out as soon as next
week, which could be a factor in giving BYD a boost,” Yang Zao,
a Shanghai-based analyst with KGI Securities Co., said in a
telephone interview. Yang yesterday raised his price estimate
for BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares to HK$21.50 from HK$14.60.

BYD’s A shares surged as much as 8.3 percent to 31.11 yuan,
its highest intraday level since Aug. 3. In Hong Kong, the stock
climbed as much as 4.4 percent to HK$21.30.

China, the world’s largest polluter, is preparing to unveil
plans to develop its alternative-energy auto market as it seeks
to cut smog and reduce its reliance on imported oil. General
Motors Co., Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG have announced plans to
introduce new-energy vehicles in China, where Boston Consulting
Group Inc. estimated in June that sales of electric cars will
exceed those of the U.S. by 2020.

BYD shares may also be getting a boost from media reports,
such as the one on Beijing Business Today that cited BYD
Chairman Wang Chuanfu as saying the company will double
warranties to four years or 100,000 kilometers (62,150 miles)
for its vehicles. That may improve consumers’ perceptions about
the quality of BYD cars, he said.